Class is in session

By BostonBastard on Thu, 01/19/2012 - 11:00pm

(This post originally appeared at www.BostonBastard.com)

Just in time for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Boston City Council readily presented their version of Boston race relations by making an example out of Charles Yancey, a black City Councilor who committed the egregious offense of actually trying to do his job and look out for his constituents.

The annual release of City Council Committee chairs is always a good way to get a sense of where the councilors stand in the eyes of the City Council power structure and this year was no different.

When Council President Stephen Murphy released his assignments last week, we learned that Matt O’Malley has proven himself as a willing stooge of the status quo, so of course he was handed the chair of the Government Operations Committee, which had been left available when Maureen Feeney finally decided to drop any pretense of giving a shit about her Dorchester constituents and went after a major pay raise.

Another major change was that Charles Yancey was removed from his chairmanship of the Post Audit and Oversight Committee.

Among councilors, Yancey is often criticized for not doing anything, but only because trying to improve the community in Mattapan doesn’t count among City Hall’s paler politicians.

That’s right, the same Yancey who quickly became the sole voice of dissent among the council after Chuck Turner was booted for bribery, must have raised his voice one too many times, because Murphy clearly grew tired of it.

It’s too easy to assume that Yancey was removed from his seat because he’s an outspoken black man, but then again, it’s too naïve to not see the flagrant racism consistently displayed by the Council, the majority of which couldn’t give a shit what happens to the communities of color in Boston.

Unless you’ve been convicted of bribery, it’s a guarantee that every Councilor gets at least one committee chair. So Yancey was handed the Environment and Health Committee while Tito Jackson was made chair of the Post Audit and Oversight.

If you remember, Jackson was the Councilor who made the half-hearted speech about being disappointed by how the City Council handled the whole City Clerk snafu. How disappointed was he? Just barely enough to praise the process while also lamenting the speed in which a decision was made. When Jackson voted Present instead of for Feeney, he was merely taking a safe stance of opposition that couldn’t have been for anything other than show. At least Yancey didn’t waste anyone’s time with a bullshit-laden speech before voting against Feeney in protest.

Jackson has always been a machine politician and a hack. For some reason, he seems to make the perfect foil in the Council’s attempt to at least appear to have oversight, not to mention tolerance for minorities. So unless he manages to actually grow some testicular fortitude in the next year, don’t expect him to put any real work into the Post Audit and Oversight Committee.

The other interesting piece of news involving council committees was Murphy backtracking his previously-announced plan to create a special committee on casinos chaired by Sal LaMattina. Even Murphy had second thoughts about what appeared to be a dirty hand off to the District Councilor who stood to gain the most amount of graft from local developers interested in greasing the wheels of city approval.

LaMattina is the sort of politician who builds his career sheepishly playing his part. Anyone who has followed his City Council career knows that it is marked with ham-handed approaches to non-issues such as the scourge of Segways and will likely end at the hands of an embarrassing scandal involving an addiction to low-grade pharmaceutical drugs or the revealing of some weird sexual kink that comes out via Twitter, Facebook or something equally stupid.

In regards to casinos, I guess it’s kind of a moot point, since quickly after announcing LaMattina’s chairmanship, Murphy back peddled and decided that the casino issue should be relegated to the Economic Development and Planning Committee.

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2012 Committees. Boston City Council

By theszak on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 2:22am.

Boston City Council
http://www.cityofboston.gov/citycouncil
email
city.council at cityofboston.gov

One City Hall Square 5th Floor
Boston MA 02201
Phone 617 635-3040
Fax 617 635-4203

2012 Committees
http://cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/committees/

1. Arts, Film, Humanities & Tourism
2. Census & Redistricting
3. City, Neighborhood Services & Veterans Affairs
4. Economic Development & Planning
5. Education
6. Environment & Health
7. Government Operations
8. Housing
9. Labor, Youth Affairs, & Human Rights
10. Post Audit & Oversight
11. Public Safety
12. Rules & Administration
13. Ways & Means
14. Whole
15. Women & Healthy Communities
16. Special Committee on Asthma

Committee/email address
Chair, Vice Chair, & Members
Liaison(s)
Admin. Back Up

1. Arts, Film, Humanities & Tourism
ccc.afht at cityofboston.gov
Chair Baker,
Vice Chair Pressley,
Arroyo, Jackson, Ross
Liaison Lincoln Smith
635-3043
Admin. Back Up Juan Lopez
635-3041

2. Census & Redistricting
ccc.census at cityofboston.gov
Chair Linehan,
Vice Chair Baker,
Arroyo, Connolly, LaMattina, Pressley, Yancey
Liaison Christine O'Donnell
635-1185
Liaison Ann Braga
635-3625

3. City, Neighborhood Services & Veterans Affairs
ccc.cns at cityofboston.gov
Chair LaMattina,
Vice Chair Ross,
Ciommo, Consalvo, Jackson, Linehan, Yancey
Liaison Juan Lopez
635-3041
Admin. Back Up Lincoln Smith
635-3043

4. Economic Development & Planning
ccc.edp at cityofboston.gov
Chair Linehan,
Vice Chair O'Malley,
Baker, Ciommo, Connolly, LaMattina, Pressley
Liaison Kevin Parker
635-4645
Admin. Back Up Ron Cobb
635-3042

5. Education
ccc.education at cityofboston.gov
Chair Connolly,
Vice Chair Jackson,
Ciommo, Consalvo, LaMattina, O'Malley, Pressley
Liaison Cora Montrond
635-4562
Admin. Back Up Ron Cobb
635-3042

6. Environment & Health
ccc.eh at cityofboston.gov
Chair Yancey,
Vice Chair Connolly,
Arroyo, Baker, LaMattina, O'Malley, Ross
Liaison Lincoln Smith
635-3043
Admin. Back Up Juan Lopez
635-3041

7. Government Operations
ccc.go at cityofboston.gov
Chair O'Malley,
Vice Chair Yancey,
Consalvo, Jackson, Linehan, Pressley, Ross
Liaison Christine O'Donnell
635-1185
Admin. Back Up Kevin Parker
635-4645

8. Housing
ccc.housing at cityofboston.gov
Chair Consalvo,
Vice Chair Arroyo,
Baker, Ciommo, O'Malley
Liaison Cora Montrond
635-4562
Admin. Back Up Ron Cobb
635-3042

9. Labor, Youth Affairs, & Human Rights
ccc.va at cityofboston.gov
Chair Arroyo,
Vice Chair Linehan,
Ciommo, Consalvo, LaMattina, O'Malley, Yancey
Liaison Ron Cobb
635-3042
Admin. Back Up Cora Montrond
635-4562

10. Post Audit & Oversight
ccc.pao at cityofboston.gov
Chair Jackson,
Vice Chair Ciommo,
Arroyo, Baker, Connolly, Linehan, Ross
Liaison Kevin Parker
635-4645
Admin. Back Up Betty Chin
635-1273

11. Public Safety
ccc.ps at cityofboston.gov
Chair Ross,
Vice Chair Pressley,
Baker, Consalvo, Linehan, O'Malley, Yancey
Liaison Ron Cobb
635-3042
Admin. Back Up Cora Montrond
635-4562

12. Rules & Administration
ccc.ra at cityofboston.gov
Chair Murphy,
Vice Chair LaMattina,
Arroyo, Ciommo, Linehan, Pressley, Ross
Liaison Ann Braga
635-3625

13. Ways & Means
ccc.wm at cityofboston.gov
Chair Ciommo,
Vice Chair LaMattina,
Connolly, Consalvo, Jackson, Linehan, O'Malley, Pressley, Yancey
635-4644
Liaison Betty Chin
635-1273

14. Whole
ccc.whole at cityofboston.gov
Chair Murphy,
Vice Chair LaMattina,
All Councilors
Liaison Ann Braga
635-3625

15. Women & Healthy Communities
ccc.whc at cityofboston.gov
Chair Pressley,
Vice Chair Consalvo,
Arroyo, Jackson, Ross
Liaison Cora Montrond
635-4562
Admin. Back Up Ron Cobb
635-3042

16. Special Committee on Asthma
ccc.asthma at cityofboston.gov
Chair Arroyo,
Vice Chair LaMattina,
Baker, Jackson, Yancey
Liaison Juan Lopez
635-3041
Admin. Back Up Lincoln Smith
635-3043

The first name listed is the committee chair, followed by the vice chair and committee members. The vice chair of the committee of the whole shall serve as the president pro tempore in the absence of the president.

Central Staff Alernate: The staff person assigned as Administrative Back Up is responsible for filling in if the liaison is not available, assisting the committee liaison with various responsibilities at the hearing with the primary liaison in the case of large hearings. If a Committee Liaison or the Administrative Back Up is not available, please contact Ann Braga 617 635-3625

[Boston City Seal]
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boston_city...

BOSTONIA. CONDITA A.D. 1630.
Boston, Founded in the Year of Our Lord 1630.

SICUT PATRIBUS SIT DEUS NOBIS.
God Be with Us as He Was with Our Fathers.

CIVITATIS REGIMINE DONATA A.D. 1822.
City Status Granted by the Authority of the State in the Year of Our Lord 1822.
http://cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/committees/

Wow.

By anon on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 7:36am.

I tried to read this post but the screen kept blurring and turning into a huge picture of Charles Yancey's face surrounded by glittering hearts, while "I Will Always Love You" played over my speakers.

There's a simple solution

By BostonBastard on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 8:15am.

Just turn off Flash on your browser, that should shut off the glittering hearts.

Failing that, just skip the three sentences of praise for Yancey that were in the entire article.

oh yeah totally

By anon on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 9:04am.

absolutely everything that ever happens to a black politician which is less than ideal is always a result of a racist conspiracy

this is a piggish, race-baiting post and i'm disappointed to see it on uhub

Agreed

By anon on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 10:08am.

This won't end well, Adam.

Other side of the coin

By eekanotloggedin on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 12:02pm.

And your post is privilege-flashing "nothing could possibly be racist unless it involves outright hate-spewing" bullshit, so now we're fair and balanced.

This isn't about race, Yancey

By TheVanJones on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 12:38pm.

This isn't about race, Yancey never played that card. This is about knocking down a politician who actually challenges the status quo. You may not like Yancey but at least the guy has a pair and is willing to ask the questions the city doesn't want to hear...soil testing, education, transportation, redistricting.

This

By anon on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 12:25pm.

Is why people think those who run blogs are not journalists.

Thanks adam.

Once again the Bastard hits

By TheVanJones on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 12:35pm.

Once again the Bastard hits it right on the nose. I applaud his spite.

I like that there's a "whole" committee

By Will LaTulippe on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 5:19pm.

That's how I would describe some of these people for sure.

Class is in session

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